Knights of the Sky
Knights of the Sky is a short story which was first published in The Modern Boy Issue 328, 19th May 1934. Unlike the other Modern Boy stories around its time, this story did not make it into the 1935 Boys' Friend Library edition of Biggles Learns to Fly in its original form. Instead it was heavily edited and its plotline substantially changed, with the setting and characters switched from those of 169 Sqn setting to 266 Sqn. The story was then sent to the end of the book where it spanned chapters 23 and 24 as The Dawn Patrol and The Stranded Pup. Because of the heavy editing, the Boy's Friend Library version should really be considered a different story, in a separate Biggles "universe". Subsequent editions of Biggles Learns to Fly like Brockhampton and Armada continued to use the Boys' Friend Library version and placed it at the end of the book. The storyline of the original Knights of the Sky was therefore lost to generations of Biggles readers until the 1992 Red Fox edition. Here the original Modern Boy text was largely restored and the story moved to its proper position in the Modern Boy sequence just after Crashed Flyers!. However Red Fox also used The Dawn Patrol as the chapter title. The 2010 Norman Wright edition of Biggles Learns to Fly also followed the original Modern Boy text and story sequence and also included the original section headings The Dawn Patrol!, The Dog-Fight! and The Stranded Pup! Synopsis Biggles takes off on a dawn patrol led by Captain Rayner instead of his usual flight commander Captain Mapleton. They get enmeshed in a massive dog-fight which includes Sopwith Pups from another squadron. At the end of the battle, Biggles lands behind enemy lines to pick up a downed Pup pilot, who turns out to be his acquaintance on the boat to France, Captain Mahoney. Plot (may contain spoilers - click on expand to read) Mapleton needs to have a tooth extracted, so Rayner leads "A" flight (including Biggles and Mark Way) on a dawn patrol. After flying for a while deep behind enemy lines without spotting any opposition, Rayner turns and heads up over a large cloud. Through a large and deep hole in the cloud, Rayner sees an air battle going on and leads his flight in a dive to join in. The dogfight turns out to be a intense one between German Fokker triplanes and biplanes and British Pups and F.E.2bs. Biggles is shocked when an F.E.2b tears across his path in flames. He sees a figure jump from the plane but it seems to remain under control and it turns to follow and crash into a Fokker Triplane. Biggles would find out later that the person who jumped was Mardell. Rayner, the pilot, knowing he had no chance of surviving, had chosen to crash his burning plane into the enemy. But there is little time to ponder--a yellow triplane is soon on Biggles' tail. He turns sharply, causing it to overshoot and Mark Way's gun opens up and it is brought down. Suddenly Biggles finds himself alone among the clouds and lost! He spots a Pup below and thinking he must know the way, dives down after him. But the Pup has been disabled and makes a forced landing in field. Biggles guesses they must be behind enemy lines and he lands to pick up the Pup pilot. It's Mahoney! Mahoney squeezes in with Mark Way and guides the F.E.2b back to 266 Squadron. There Mahoney introduces Biggles to the C.O. Major Mullen. Mullen is impressed by Biggles' rescue of Mahoney. He is just the kind of pilot he needs and promises to try to arrange for Biggles to transfer to 266. Biggles is grateful. He is sorry to leave Mark but Mark says he has just applied for pilot training and may be leaving 169 Sqn in any case, Characters *Biggles *Captain Mapleton *Captain Rayner *Marriot *McAngus *Mark Way *Mardell *Captain Mahoney *Major Mullen Aircraft *F.E.2b *Sopwith Pup *Fokker Dr.I *Unspecified German biplane fighter Places Visited *169 Squadron *266 Squadron Mentioned Editorial Changes *Although the Red Fox edition reverted to the Modern Boy text in the main, there were minor editorial changes and some areas where the expressions were modernized. This is a comparison between the Modern Boy text (as reprinted in the Norman Wright edition) and the Red Fox. **"Second Lieutenant Bigglesworth stared at the man coldly." In Red Fox: "Second- Lieutenant Bigglesworth (Biggles for short) stared at the man coldly." **(Of the batman) "Satisfied that his master was really awake....". In Red Fox: "Satisfied that his officer was really awake...." **"...it swept a row of ornaments from above his head." In Red Fox there is an added sentence after this: "There was a fearful crash as they scattered in all directions." Other Research Notes *Aerial Victories: Biggles and Mark Way 1 References to the past Incongruities *See chronology below for some anachronisms. Chronology (see also table at Timeline of the Biggles Stories) *Following the sequence of the stories before and after this one, the timeframe would be April 1917. *Given the date above, the appearance of the Fokker Dr.I triplane is anachronistic. Publication History *''The Modern Boy'', Issue 328, 19th May 1934 *''Biggles Learns to Fly'', Red Fox, 1992, and subsequent reprints (as Ch. 8 "The Dawn Patrol") *''Biggles Learns to Fly'', Norman Wright, 2010 References Category:Short stories Category:Biggles short stories Category:World War One era short stories